Entrepreneurs have a ready for anything attitude and that definitely applies to Robert Caruso founder and CEO of Social Resolve LLC. You may know them for their Bundle Post product. I caught up with Robert on short notice and he agreed to join me for an interview.

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Summary

This interview led to a number of expected topics (Coffee, Family) and a few surprises. I won’t ruin it, but just say that if you know Robert you might get to know him a little better by listening to this interview.

It’s tax season and we’ve already seen the tax related phishing Emails showing up in our inbox. Early this morning a new phishing scheme was detected that is targeting businesses with Emails purportedly from the FDIC. If you take the time to evaluate the link it can be easily determined to be just that. Here is a screenshot of the message:

For your convenience and to learn more on how to protect yourself you can also check out this video:

Here is the entire text of the message (added to properly index this article with the search engines):

Attn: Financial Department

By this message we would like to inform you about the recent alterations in the FDIC insurance coverage for transaction accounts.

During the period from December 31, 2010 to December 31, 2012 all the money in a “noninterest-bearing transaction account” are insured in full by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Please note, that this measure is temporary and separate from the FDIC’s common deposit insurance regulations.

The term “noninterest-bearing transaction account” includes a traditional checking account or demand deposit account on which no interest is paid by the insured depository institution.

For detailed information about temporary FDIC insurance coverage of transaction accounts, please view the official site link.

You may have heard recently that there is a vulnerability affecting many wireless access points. It has to do with Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) which is supposed to make it easier to configure devices to use your wireless network. The problem is the WPS system is vulnerable to a brute force attack that will allow a malicious attempt within range of your wireless signal to access and change settings on your device. Once the foot is in the door there are many other things that can be done, especially if you have un-protected devices on your network.

The two things you should know if you own or are responsible for any wireless access points are:

There is no practical universal solution to the problem.

You may have to use the hacking tools themselves to be 100% certain you are not vulnerable.

If you feel you have anything someone might want to steal, the smartest thing might be to just disconnect the wireless access point or turn it off. Then live without it until the manufacturer has clear information on your make and model of wireless device. Of course if your wireless access point is also your Internet Router this could be problematic.

There are more questions than answers right now and while you can’t tell with certainty if you are not vulnerable a list is being compiled of devices that have been confirmed to be vulnerable. You can access the WPS Vulnerability Testing Document to find devices that have been confirmed.

Google has so many properties, most of us will never try them all. I stumbled onto an interesting tool last week that you may find useful for researching airline flights. The Google Flight Search application lets you do what most fare search sites let you do and a couple of things they don’t:

See at a glance based on where you are now what it would cost to fly to different locations.

Check alternative source and destination routes.

Filter down by pricing and flight time.

Like many Google tools Flight Search has that simple look and feel you’ve become familiar with over time. Check out the video for more insight and a demonstration of the features.

Don’t see the video or browser doesn’t support Flash? Watch the video here.